


Good mages don't set curtains on fire

by Melime



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 08:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4173537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Bull is boasting, Dorian wants some place to hide, Adaar is worried, and Sera doesn't know if she is more mad or scared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good mages don't set curtains on fire

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Bons magos não tacam fogo nas cortinas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4173549) by [Melime GreenLeaf (Melime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime%20GreenLeaf)



> I wrote this a couple months ago, but haven't gotten around to post it yet. This is another of the ones I wrote in English first. Although it is in many ways harder, I found that it was easier to find Sera's voice. Many thanks to my lovely beta feygrim.

At first, Sera wasn't sure she understood what Bull was saying. Because surely what she thought he meant wasn't what he truly meant. She side-eyed Adaar before deciding she didn’t believe him, it was easier that way. "You're full of shite. Ha! It's Bull shite, get it, because you are...?"

Dorian rolled his eyes at the commentary. “Yes, such a clever comparison.”

Bull laughed. “You are just mad because you didn’t thought of it sooner. And I promise you, Sera, that I’m telling the truth. Swear on my mother’s grave.”

“Qunari don’t have mothers.” Varric pointed out. “But we’ll let that pass if you allow me to use that scene in my book. Never thought of making mages lose control outside of a drama setting.”

“ _I didn’t ‘lose control’_!” Dorian all but yelled.

“So you wanted to set the curtains on fire?” Adaar asked with a grin.

Long moments passed, with Dorian contemplating which answer would be worse. “Well, no.” He finally admitted, but he recovered soon enough. “It’s all this big idiot’s fault for leaving me so frustrated that I just had to set something on fire, if for no other reason, because I needed some kind of release from _somewhere_.” He immediately regretted his words, but it was too late to take them back.

"Damn, Bull, you better keep your boyfriend happy, I would hate to learn you met your untimely demise because you couldn't keep a mage satisfied." Varric mocked.

"On the contrary, the problem was getting him _too_ happy." Bull commented just as Dorian opened his mouth to protest the word 'boyfriend', which earned him an angry look. "Ever heard of orgasm delay? It can do wonders."

“Inquisitor, please save me from these savages.” Dorian begged, rolling his eyes dramatically.

“Don’t look at me, I’m not the one who set the curtains on fire. I'm a good mage, I keep magic outside of the bedroom.”

“Wait a second, do you mean that it’s true? You mages can get so horny you just blow stuff up? Like for no reason? And you never told me?” Sera asked, not bothering to keep the anger from her voice.

“I hardly blew anything up, it was just a small fire! It didn’t even go beyond the curtains.”

“And to be honest I didn’t think it was actually true, I always assumed it was something mother told to keep me away from the beds of our noble patrons’ daughters.” Adaar laughed. “Guess I should have paid more attention to the things she said. Although she also told me to either run from or kill every Qunari I saw, and that wouldn’t have turned out great for Bull.”

“Keep telling yourself that, boss.”

When Sera got up and left, the whole table went quiet. The inquisitor got up and followed her. She was in her room, with the door locked.

“Sera, come on! You can't be mad at me for not giving you an extensive talk about mages, you were the one who didn't want to hear anything about my magic!" Adaar yelled, knocking hard against the door.

"Go away!"

"Sera, talk to me! If you tell me what's wrong, maybe we can work something out, so just open the door, please." She said trying to control her voice.

She opened the door slowly, almost as if she was afraid. "Don't you think you should have told me that I could be set on fire by sleeping with you?"

"Well, I'm not a fire mage so there's no way that would happen. Although I do suppose I could accidentally electrocute you..." Sera tried to close the door, but Adaar held her hand in the way. "Ok, sorry, that was a jerkish thing to say. But really, I swear no such thing ever happened to me or any other mages I know, you have nothing to worry about."

Sera backed away from the door, allowing the Inquisitor to enter her small chambers.

"I bet that's what he thought."

"Dorian is a guy, maybe that's the reason. Maybe setting things on fire is the magic equivalent to..." She made a vague hand movement. "You know."

Sera laughed at the insinuation. "That doesn't mean I'm not mad at you anymore."

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?"

"Unless you can guarantee me that you won't go all scary and lose control..." As soon as saw the expression on Adaar's face, she regretted those words. "Shite, I screwed up, I don't mean that because you are that 'shoth thing you'll go crazy. Bull said it's a really sensitive thing with you guys."

"So you don't think I'll lose control and start to kill people because I'm Tal-Vashoth, just because I'm a mage. Great, that makes all the difference in the world. Just a knife to the tongue, not an axe to the throat." Adaar said, visibly upset.

“That’s not what I’m saying! Wait, they don’t actually do that, do they?”

She sat down and lowered her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was hesitant. “Tal-Vashoth don’t have templars. If a mage gets too dangerous, they have to do something. Sometimes, they just don’t care to find out, just being a mage is enough to make us dangerous. I have a couple scars to prove, carrying a staff can be more dangerous than walking around looking like this.”

Sera was silent for a moment, conflicted between her distrust of magic and wanting to comfort her girlfriend. “Look, I have no problem with mages, and I like you. But magic, magic is all freaky and scary.”

“But magic is part of who I am! I can’t change it anymore than you can change your ears.”

“Now that’s unfair.”

“Why? Elves are treated like shit, mages are treated like shit.”

“Yeah, but only one of those can blow your face up when they are mad.”

Adaar rolled her eyes. “Right, so you guys are breakable and we are dangerous. Except you can do more damage with that bow of yours than half the mages I know. Or without it, even. So don’t start talking about being able to disarm, I’ve met plenty of rogues and warriors that could easily kill people with nothing more than their hands.”

“You’ve made your point. I don’t wanna make you feel like shite for something you can’t change.” Sera lowered her voice. “I wouldn’t wanna anyone to go through that.” She shook her head slightly, and sat across from Adaar. “But I also don’t wanna be fried! You have to understand that all the magic stuff is scary for us little people.”

“Things you don’t understand are scary. You know what I was afraid of when I was a kid? Dwarves.” Sera laughed. “No, I’m serious. They are so small and dense, and they don’t dream, that’s creepy. It also didn’t help that sometimes my parents would sell stuff for this one dwarf that had a Qunari skull in her home. Father told it was the skull of a Tal-Vashoth that went berserk, I guess he was trying to keep me in line, it was only much later that I found out it was actually her husband. He was decapitated by humans from a village nearby, she couldn’t even recover the rest of his body, so she kept just his head. And this story ended up more sad and creepy than I remembered it. The point is, scary stuff isn’t always really scary, just so you known.”

“Really? That’s what you want me to take from ‘freaky dwarf kept her husband’s skull on display’?”

“I was just trying to reason with you.”

“With a horror story?”

“Fuck you!” She laughed.

Sera leaned in. “Only if you can beat me to your chambers.” She whispered before jumping from her seat and running towards the stairs.


End file.
